Chapter 55: Celebrations

"Hoo Hoo Hoo, I am getting too old for this…" the old panda panted as he hiked histo the top of the mountain.

Usually he would not spend so much effort climbing but today was an occasion that made this effort worth it. Despite the difficult journey, the old red panda had been climbing up and down the mountain for 3 days continuously. He would go up everyday, bringing packed food from his wife and go down the mountain as the sun began to set.

Why was he doing this? It was to meet his disciple, friend and savior.

Lao claimed the summit and saw a young man sitting in meditation on the edge of the cliff. Shin had not moved from this spot for 3 days, but this had not stopped Lao from visiting him everyday.

Lao moved closer and joined a black and white Panda as the latter observed Shin, "Greetings GrandMaster." he saluted and the giant Panda nodded, returning the greeting.

"It's the fourth day, he has already mastered chi in these short years, it is simply incredible!" The red panda praised his disciple. Even though Shin had already exceeded Lao's level, Shin was still his student and Shin respected him as such.

Po nodded, his eyes unmoving as he observed Shin. While Lao was a master of chi and could feel Shin's power, Po's level was far beyond Lao's and his mastery over chi was far more profound. As such, what he saw was far beneath the surface; in his eyes, Po saw the energy of the world move in sync with Shin.

Shin had mastered the "oneness with the world" to such a great extent that if the boy so wished, he would become invisible to all senses, the eye's would see him but the mind would be unable to comprehend his existence, creating a divide in sense and understanding. Shin could walk into the most secure place in the continent and walk out without anyone noticing him.

But this was not what worried the Panda, what worried him was abyss that seemed to grow inside his disciple. The darkness that seemed to want to engulf and devour everything. He had noticed it when Shin first stepped into this world but he wasn't as worried because the darkness was buried deep inside. But now, as Shin grew stronger, the abyss seemed desperate to surface.

The panda remembered his many conversations with the Black Serpent, and his cautions about demons that lived in the gaps between worlds, creatures of darkness and destruction… Insasible… and unkillable.

Lao left the place after giving the food and collecting the previous day's utensils. After the red panda had left, Po walked closer to Shin and spoke up, "Shin… Tell me… Can you win against the darkness?" he questioned his disciple in worry.

Shin's eyes remained close and his breathing level, there was not a single ripple in him as he replied, "I was never even allowed the chance to fight it."

The panda closed his eyes in pain, he had felt it inside the boy when they first met, hidden behind a mask of nonchalance. There was just constant pain and a burning ocean of anger. Po had thought he could help him heal, but like all else, that too was devoured by the abyss inside Shin.

Now, Po only hoped that Shin would not lose himself, even if it was just a trace of hatred that remained, there would be a chance for him to be rescued. But he knew now that he was not the one that could rescue him and he did not know if anyone could, before it was far too late.

Po sighed, turned around and left. His heart heavy from the thoughts of having failed another.

...…

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" the busty blonde asked in an annoyed tone.

Shin stifled his laugh as he repeated himself to the sannin, "The Daimyo requests that you take a look at young lord Inoue's penis…" he pursed his lips and swallowed his laughter before continuing, "It seems that while on his way to a brothel…ahm… he was kicked by… a donkey…pfffft" he failed and started to laugh as the whole of the crowded tavern joined him and Shizune started banging the table in hysteria.

Yes, it would seem that the very next day after his wedding, the young master of the Inoue clan, the heir to their vast fortunes and ancient legacy, had been dragged by his friends to a brothel but was kicked in the nuts by a rogue donkey.

The clan had tried to restrict the information but after three weeks, the daimyo instructed Shin to find Tsunade once more, the delay being due to Shin's absence and training in the other world. Two weeks later, the Inoue clan had become the butt of countless jokes.

After a round of laughter, Tsunade accepted the request, more out of curiosity than for the reward and Shin led them back to the capital. He traveled with them because of the time sensitive nature of the matter.

Once Tsunade was done with her check up she nodded, "Yup, it's gone. There is no way to fix this mess.'' She happily crushed their hopes.

Lord Inoue was dejected and fell to his knees, "Ah… the gods have cursed our Inoue clan… this is the end of my bloodline?" He wept before his son entered his eyes and that sorrow turned to rage and started to slap his son on the head, "YOU! You bastard! I told you to stop visiting the brothels!" He slapped his son so hard that he fell to the ground but the man didn't relent and started to kick him while cursing, "Who goes to the brothel a day after the wedding! Leaving his new wife to visit prostitutes! You damn bastard!"

The young lord tried to defend himself, "I wasn't me! It was my friends!" he argued but that only made his father more angry as he kicked him harder.

"You couldn't say no!? You damn ball less bastard! Are you still a man!?" The man cussed and kicked.

Shin had a front row seat to this and tried his best not to laugh, Shizune was in the same boat as him while Tsunade was busy counting the money.

The beating continued until Shin felt someone outside and cleared his throat to stop the father son duo and opened the door, greeting the person outside, "Greetings Princess Yukina." he bowed slightly.

Lord Inoue immediately wore a fawning expression as he rushed to the girl, "Oh my dear girl! Why are you out of bed? Look how pale you are!" he spoke in a worried tone before turning to the maids behind her and yelled at them for not taking care of her.

Lord Inoue was sweating, he had burned many bridges to make this blood relation with the royal family in order to secure his family's position. Now that his son was useless, he had to make the princess happy and work even harder to make sure that the daimyo didn't blame him, not to mention he would have to adopt one of his relative's sons which made things more difficult for him.

"I am alright father. I just wanted to know…" she looked at her beaten husband on the ground.

Lord Inoue blocked her view and spoke with a fawning smile, "Oh don't worry about such things! Just go and rest alright!" He gestured to the maids to take her away.

"Wait!" called out Tsunade as she walked towards the princess, "Your Highness is sick, since I am already here, I should take a look." he spoke and extended her glowing hands towards the princess without waiting for permission.

"As I thought." Tsunade spoke up after a moment, "Congratulations Lord Inoue, it seems the princess is with a child."

Lord Inoue paused for a while before he started to laugh in hysteria, "Ahahahahaha! The gods haven't abandoned my Inoue clan yet! Ahahahahaha!"

The maids celebrated as Shin saw the look of horror hidden behind the princess's eyes, he wasn't the only one as Tsunade also saw the same thing. Alas, there was nothing she could do, even if she was one of the legendary sannin, she couldn't interfere in such affairs.

Shin saw Tsunade out and when they had gained some distance, Tsunade spoke up, "Regarding the matter last time, do you think this is related?"

Shin shook his head, "It's difficult to say since I was away during that time but if so, young master Inoue's friends might be an accomplice in this. I also heard that he was detained by his friends on the wedding night, only to go home very early in the morning. Not to mention he showed up to the wedding half drunk and missing a tooth." Shin sighed before continuing, "It might just be due to jealousy instead of a conspiracy."

Tsunade nodded, not giving any more inputs because she didn't want to get involved in this matter.

Days passed and Shin's "official" 15th birthday passed. Shin invited his friends in Konoha for a private party in his fancy mansion in the capital, including Naruto and Sasuke. Shin even invited his fiance and Princess Yukina.

Shin spent most of the party avoiding Naruto's and Sauke's insistence about teaching them a new technique while Shin tried to squish Shiharu's cheeks and resist the urge of eating up her soft squishy cheeks.

Kakashi spent most of the time eating along with Guy whom Shin "Forgot" invited but he came anyway, even bringing dumbbells as gifts.

Ibuki spent most of his time with lord Matsudaira, no doubt getting him to sign off on a deal to expand his business.

Chikori hung out with the princesses as they played with Shiharu who was the star of the show and the cutest baby in the world at the moment.

During the night, Shin found some time to chat with Princess Yukina, away from the hub hub of the party. "How is your health, your highness?" he inquired.

"As well as I can be." she gave him an empty smile. "Mother wishes me to go to Nagoya Castle, she wishes to take care of me herself during this time." she informed Shin.

Shin smiled brightly, "A wonderful idea! I am sure you will give birth to a perfect son!" He wished for her.

"A son?" she questioned?

"Do you not wish for a son?" Shin asked.

"No, If it has to be, I'd rather it not be a daughter… I'd much rather it be a son…" her eyes were shadowed as she looked down to her stomach where a child was growing. She had been thrilled when she heard that her husband had become useless, she was ecstatic. She had thought that the gods had finally heard her prayer after all and that her fourtones had turned!

But after she found out that she had become pregnant after just a single night, she knew that there were no gods in this world, only demons that toyed with mortals, playing them as one does puppets and dolls. Her fortune had been turned into a misfortune.

When Shin wished for her to bear a son, she truly wished that it would be. At Least a son would not have to bear the same fate as she did. She didn't pray for it though, neither did she hope, she now knew them to be useless so she wimpy wished… and resigned herself to the whims of fate.

Shin saw the emotions hidden beneath her smiling mask and grabbed her hands, cupping them gently between his own. Yukina looked at him with shock and then to the others in the party. Yukina was hidden from the view of the people by Shin so no one could see it but her heart still raced at this dangerous situation.

Shin however ignored her inner turmoil and stared deeply into her eyes, "Do not abandon hope so quickly my princess. Every storm comes to an end and every night has the break of dawn!" His words were soft and full of emotion. Yukina could feel his care for her as he continued, "But you must endure the storm, live through the darkness… to see the light. So please princess, endure." he pleaded.

Her eyes stared into his, she never knew a color so black could exist. The whole world seemed to fade into that darkness, all the people around them, all the ancient laws, the stubborn traditions and all boundaries of right and wrong. Those black eyes seemed to swallow them all… until only they remained, and nothing else, just them.

In this world of dreams and reality, she once more forgot the difference between them. She felt the warmth of his hands on her own, it felt familiar yet distant, she felt warm yet restless. She didn't know if this was another dream or reality but for now, at this moment, she didn't care.

"I will do as you say, my lord… but you must pay the price for your crimes." she stared at him unblinkingly as the young man before her reeled back and let go of her hands. In a swift motion, Yukina grabbed his hands, "You must pay… for the sin of toying with my heart…" her voice a mere whisper, lighter than the air flowing between them.

"And this is your punishment, for now and everytime we meet." she rose on toes and planted her lips on his.

After a moment, she backed away and saw a shocked young man, she could see the blood rush to his head as she touched her lips with her finger, "It's sweeter than the last time." she commented with a smile.

"W-what?" asked Shin in a confused tone.

"Nothing~" she gave him a mischievous smile and walked away, humming a tone in her head. Illusion or reality, she no longer cared. If the world did not care for her, then wasn't it only right that she too stopped caring for the world's rules.